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Evelyn Gable and Her Waterproof Face Mask
Evelyn Gable was a beautiful fourteen-year-old blond girl with blue eyes living at Lakeside Green in West Palm Beach, Florida. Evelyn loved the outdoors. Every weekend or summer holiday, she loved to go to the beach to get a tan, practice cheerleading for football, go to the zoo or a theme park, ride her bicycle, rollerblade, play tennis, and lounge by the pool. She loved them all. One day that summer, while she and her mother were at the Rapids Water Park, she said, “I would really like to go down those water slides, especially body slides, bowl water slides, drop slides, and multi-lane racer slides, but I’m very concerned that I’ll get chlorinated pool water in my nose and my mouth.” “Don’t be silly, Evelyn,” said her mother. “Why don’t you go slide down one of the Tubin’ Tornadoes slides. You probably won’t get chlorinated water in your nose and your mouth.” Evelyn sighed. “O.K. As you wish,” she gulped. So Evelyn tried many times. She went down one of the Tubin’ Tornadoes slides (the blue one) using an inflatable raft. And what do you think happened afterward? SPLASH! Evelyn fell off the raft, right into the water! She got chlorinated water in her nose, causing nasal congestion. She immediately said to her mom, “That does it! Chlorinated water always gets in my nose and mouth, then it makes me sick! I’ve had enough of this water park. Come on, let’s go home. Now!” When they got home at 3850 Classic Court, West Palm Beach, Florida, 33417, Evelyn said, “I don’t feel like going down water slides anymore. In fact, I don’t ever want to go to the water park again.” “Why not?” asked her mom. “Because,” Evelyn answered, “there are some dangerous things about chlorine. There can be some pathogens that may still lurk in the water, and research suggests that disinfectants may pose their own health hazards. Swimming in chlorinated pools, particularly indoor pools, might put kids at higher risk for developing respiratory illnesses, including asthma and hay fever. There’s also evidence that disinfectant by-products—formed when chlorinated water is mixed with microorganisms, human body fluids, cosmetics, and sunscreen—can damage our DNA and increase our risk of cancer. See what I mean?” “Oh, come on!” said her mom. “That’s silly!” “No!” cried Evelyn. “It’s true. According to the CDC, pools filled with chlorine often contain all sorts of pathogens, and humans are only part of the problem. We could get chlorinated water in our noses and mouths, which could cause nasal congestion!”“You really think so?” said her mom. “It might sound crazy when you say that. I’m going upstairs to think of something,” she said. And she did. That evening, Evelyn tried to think of something to keep chlorinated pool water out of her nose and mouth in order not to get sick. “There has to be something to protect my face,” she said. Just then she had a solution. Inside a drawer in her desk was a box of blue procedure earloop face masks her mother had bought from CVS when she had a severe illness a month ago. She took one of her masks out of the box, and wore it over her nose and mouth, then lay on her bed, thinking of something. “I wonder what mask I could base my idea on,” she thought. Evelyn knew that face masks are super important for people working in the medical and beauty industries. She remembered a trip to Taylor Orthodontics, where her dentist wore a face mask to protect herself while cleaning her teeth. She also recalled being L.A. Nails and seeing the nail technician wearing a mask to avoid breathing toxic dust while doing her mom’s nails. “Oh, I just remembered another time!” she thought. While she and her mom had waited to be called for her checkup at the Palm Beach Children’s Hospital, she had seen other kids who were sick with the flu wearing masks at the waiting room. Then she recalled seeing zookeepers wearing masks when taking care of gorillas, chimps, and orangutans at Zoo Miami. “I wonder if a mask like these would protect me from chlorinated water,” Evelyn thought. Then she thought about some old bathing suits she and her mom used to wear years ago. So she went downstairs to the garage, rummaging through a box of old bathing suits and ending up finding her mother’s old one-piece bathing suit from when her mom was a teenager. “I will use this to make my own protective face mask,” she said. “Then maybe I’ll wear it so I can go down the water slides the next time mom and I return to the water park.” Later that night, back upstairs, using material from her mom’s old bathing suit, a roll of clear plastic sheeting, a roll of white foam, a pair of safety scissors, a ruler, some sewing materials, one of her plastic nose wires, sketching pencils, paper, and watercolor markers, Evelyn was busy making her own mask. Then, as she was finished, she went to bed and slept. The next morning, when her mom called her down for breakfast, Evelyn entered the kitchen modeling her newly created waterproof face mask—which was just like a surgical face mask, albeit waterproof—with adjustable earloops that were made from the elastic straps of the bathing suit snug around her ears and hidden by her hair! “Evelyn, what’s that you’re wearing over your nose and mouth?” cried her mom. “Oh, this?” said Evelyn. “This is my new creation: a waterproof face mask, made from the old bathing suit you used to wear when you were my age, with the inside made from foam and a clear plastic sheeting. It’s just like one of my face masks you bought me last month. Neat, huh?” “You’re kidding, right?” said her mom. “Nope! It’s very simple,” replied Evelyn. “Let me show you something very important. I’ll get my bathing suit on and demonstrate by diving in the swimming pool.” A few minutes later, after she donned her bathing suit and went downstairs, her mother watched as Evelyn made a cannonball dive into the swimming pool. SPLASH! With her new mask on, the chlorinated pool water never got into her nose or her mouth. They were well protected. “What did I tell you?” asked Evelyn, as she came out of the swimming pool. “This mask protects my mouth and nose from chlorinated water, it’s breathable, and it’s flexible so I can talk while I’m wearing it. And don’t forget, it’s hand-washable with soap and water.” Her mother seemed satisfied. “And the mask is easy to pull down to below my chin,” she continued, demonstrating. “I love that creation,” said her mom, amazed at Evelyn’s face mask. “So now that I made this waterproof face mask,” said Evelyn, “next time we go back to the Rapids Water Park I can wear it to go down the water slides.” The next time Evelyn and her mother went to the Rapids Water Park, Evelyn brought along her face mask. The moment she got to the top of the Brain Drain water slide (the orange one), she quickly donned the mask and slid down to the bottom. She did the same thing while sliding down the other water slides (including the Baby Blue bowl slide, the Big Thunder funnel slide, one of the Pirate Plunge body water slides, both of the Body Blaster water slides, both of the Tubin’ Tornadoes water slides, all four of the Old Yellar water slides, and one of the lanes of Rapids Racer), while swimming in the Lazy River, crossing over Alligator Alley floating obstacles, and swimming at the Big Surf Wave Pool. When she noticed that no one else in the water park was wearing a mask, Evelyn asked her mom, “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” So later, on their way back home, they went to Hobby Lobby to buy waterproof polyester and rayon materials and other stuff to make more masks. They then sold them to many stores, including Target, Walmart, CVS, Walgreens, and others. People everywhere soon wanted them! The next time Evelyn and her mom returned to Rapids Water Park, they were happy to see everyone—EVERYONE—wearing Evelyn’s invention over their noses and mouths. They even heard that people in other water parks were wearing them! “This is the best day of my life, mom,” said Evelyn, swimming in the Big Surf Wave Pool with her mother, who had worn her waterproof face mask. “With our masks on, we won’t have to worry about getting chlorine in our noses. Thanks to me, everybody loves their waterproof face masks!” Category:Children's Stories Category:Teenagers' Stories